Indifference
by planets-in-the-sky
Summary: Friends and neighbours, Donna Noble and Rose Tyler, stumble into a mysterious blue police box one night on their way home from a party. The last of the Time Lords gets a lot more than he had hoped for. He's stuck in the middle of a park in the South West of London with two drunken messes, but he just can't seem to let them go. Donna/Rose/Nine AU.


**Authors Note**: Hello. It's me - with a AU fic. And a bizarre AU fic at that. I've never wrote one before so I'd love to gather some of your feedback! Basically, the idea is, Rose and Donna are next door neighbours and quite good friends. In this fic, Pete is still alive and Tony Tyler is an eight year old boy - Rose's little brother. Just for the purpose of this fic, Donna was once engaged to Jimmy Stone instead of Rose. All will become much clearer once you've read on. This first part may seem a bit boring but it's just introducing the fic. It gets better, I can assure you! Sorry for the abrupt ending. I hope you enjoy anyway and please let me know what you think :)

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**Synopsis: **Friends and neighbours Donna Noble and Rose Tyler stumble - literally STUMBLE - into a mysterious blue police box one night on their way home from a party. The last of the Timelords gets a lot more than he bargained for. He's parked in the middle of a park in South West London with two drunken messes. But he just can't seem to let them go. Donna/Rose/Nine AU.

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**Indifference**

**Part 1**

_Earth, England, South West London._

The harsh winter air bit chills into your skin. Withered leaves were stood upon day-by-day as the streets of London overran with humanity. Each and every person set about with their lives as normal. This was life at its best; simple and indifferent.

As the days drew to a close, the masses would scurry on home to comfort blankets of warmth, safety, love and security. That was it. Life. Families bonded; relationships blossomed; children grew up to fulfil their destinies. To onlookers, this seemed boring. Ask Donna Noble and she'd tell you the same thing. Life _was_ boring. You know it, she knows, they know it.

But . . .

* * *

_Powell Street, Friday, December 2006._

It was just a normal street; and a small one at that. Ten terraces lined neatly on either side of the road. Red bricks; brown roofs; black doors. It was all fairly new. That freshly painted smell had long gone by now though the paintwork remained untouched; unscuffed; unmarked.

The door of number three was open slightly ajar. A bold, redheaded figure strolled the street with a tight smile, greeting those she met on the way as her heeled boots stomped across the concrete. The women's eye-line soon met with the door and within an instant, she peered inside, her movements coated with caution. Carefully, the women strode her right foot over the front step only to be met by silence echoing throughout the entire house.

"Rose! Jackie! Pete! Tony!"

The women called with defeat; she knew at once nobody was home. Sighing, she enclosed her hand around the door handle and began to pull back the door, making a mental note to herself to tell Rose about the strange goings-on within her household.

**CRASH! **

She stopped, startled. Somebody was in the house. Somebody who may or may not have been one of the Tylers.

"Hello?"

Her voice was wavering with nerves. What was she supposed to do if there _was_ an intruder in the house? The house that wasn't even her own.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

Though it was the last thing she was wanting to do, the women pulled back the door fully and began to take small, cautious steps through the hall.

"This isn't funny, you know!" she yelled fiercely as rustling began to fill her ear-line, seemly coming from the closed kitchen door. "Rose, if that's you..."

The rustling suddenly stopped, causing the redhead to breath an inward sigh of relief. She clutched at her clammy forehead; she felt quite faint. _It was just your imagination_, she reminded herself comfortingly. It didn't act as a help to her, though. Her imagination rarely even sprung into overdrive.

* * *

_Mr. Chips, Saturday, December 2006._

Rose Tyler sat at the counter with her head resting in her hands. Her shift would be over in five minutes and she couldn't wait. The greasy hairnet she wore clung to her golden locks. The stench of cod filled her pours and the unflattering white tabard that was compulsory to wear for the job was sticking to the flesh beneath it.

"Hello stranger."

To this, Rose to raised her head from the counter to smile at her old friend. Donna Noble, she was called. Despite there being a five year age gap between the two neighbours, Rose and Donna had always gotten along; but, I suppose that's because they had had to. Not only had they been living next door to one another for just over a year - ever since their houses had been built - Donna also worked as the receptionist for Roses' dad Pete's building firm - _Tyler's_ - who, coincidentally, had built the homes the two women now lived in.

"Donna!" Rose exclaimed, glad to have found a distraction from her dead end job in the chippy. The only reason she took it was because she had no other money to pay her keep with. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm not here for food," Donna replied, reaching up her hands to tighten the bobble around her fiery red ponytail. "I've come to see you, actually."

"Oh."

Rose's lips broke out into a wide smile. It felt good to be wanted for once.

"My shift finishes in five. We can speak then."

* * *

_Lime Park, Saturday, December 2006._

Tightening the cord of her black coat more securely around her middle, Donna sighed. White mist drifted off from her mouth and into the atmosphere, disappearing into nothingness before Rose - who sat beside her on the cold and slightly uncomfortable park bench - had even noticed a thing.

"What did you wanna speak to me about, then?" Rose asked curiously, breaking the silence with a question as she rubbed her gloved hands together in an effort to provide them with some much needed warmth.

Having now finished her shift well over ten minutes ago, Rose had had some time spare to change into some more suitable clothing. Red jeans, a white tank top, a pair of casual black sneakers and her usual brown winter coat now took place upon her body. As the temperature outside had hit an unusual low - despite her many protests against it in her younger years - Rose had now decided to follow her mother's advice and cover up the rest of her bare skin with knitted garments (i.e. gloves, a hat, a scarf...).

Donna looked on with envy.

"It's your Dad's Christmas party," she began to explain, mentally cursing herself for the little clothing she had decided on wearing today. "I need a plus one... and well, if you haven't guessed already, I haven't got one. Not yet, anyway."

To this, Rose resisted the urge to chuckle. Donna's love life had gone downhill ever since she broke off her engagement to Jimmy Stone earlier in the year. Thinking about it now, maybe it was Jimmy who had broke it off with Donna... Either way, Rose hadn't bothered to remember. Donna had only ever mentioned him to her personally once and the mention was only very vague to say the least.

"Well, you're not using Mickey," Rose suddenly announced.

If she knew Donna as well as she thought she did, this would defiantly cause her a giggle.

"Oh god, no!" Donna shrieked, cringing inwardly. "Rose, I am not here to steal your boyfriend for the night. If it was anybody else, maybe. But this is Mickey we're talking about! Mickey Smith! That is wrong on _so_ many levels."

Shaking her head, Rose gave Donna a playful nudge in the arm. They smirked at one another.

"Have you finished insulting my boyfriend?" Rose asked, only to receive a timid nod in response. "Good! Now carry on..."

"Well!" Donna angled her body slightly on the bench to face Rose more clearly. "As I was saying before, for this Christmas party, I need a plus one. And, me being me thought that maybe you would like to come with me? Stop me from looking like a loner. It is your Dad's firm after all. I'm sure the daughter of the boss would be more than welcome to come..."

Rose chuckled freely, the gentle wind blowing the hair that wasn't contained within her pink bobby hat up messily in all directions.

"That's precisely the problem," Rose began to explain cynically. "I'm the boss' daughter. I'm not hijacking my Dad's Christmas party, Donna. Not even for you. And anyway, that's besides the point. It's next Saturday, isn't it?"

"Yes," Donna confirmed, hopeful that answer would be in fact, yes.

"Exactly! I'm babysitting Tony next Saturday. Nobody's gonna be home if Mum, Dad _and_ me go to the party!"

Donna couldn't help but deflate both inside and out. This was not the answer she was hoping for. Rose did have a fair point - eight year old Tony Tyler was not going to be able to look after himself for the night - but Donna _needed_ a plus one. She would _not_ be known as lonely. The men at work teased her enough about her current relationship status. The last thing she needed to do was to add to it. This was social suicide at its best.

"Rossseee!" Donna whined - melodramatics had always been one of her strong points. "Please! I'll beg you if I have to!"

"Donna."

"No. Rose! Please! Get Mickey to babysit or something."

Stopping for a moment to think about it, Rose rested her head in her hands momentarily before giving off a noise of pure and utter defeat.

"Fine," she groaned reluctantly.

The last thing Rose was expecting from Donna was for her to draw her into a firm embrace of gratitude. But, as usual, never one to disappoint, that was exactly what Donna decided to do.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she beamed. "Thank you, Rose! Thank you!"

After releasing Rose from the death grip she had unintentionally secured around the poor, young girl's arms, Donna smiled innocently and reached into her pocket to draw out her mobile.

"I'll call Max, then. Tell him I can _actually_ make it."

"Whatever!"

Rose was less than happy at being emotionally manipulated. Donna was a great friend - if not a little overwhelming at times - but it was poor Mickey who was getting left in the lurch, _as always_. Rose had a very guilty conscience as far as Mickey was concerned. They'd been going out now for just over a year - despite having known each other ever since they were little - and the spark they shared at the beginning of their relationship had began to fizzle out.

With Mickey, Rose was utterly torn. She loved him, of course she did. How could she not? Mickey was kind, caring and compassionate. Though he could be an idiot at times, that cheeky smile he always wore upon his face won Rose over every single time.

Before their relationship had began, Mickey and Rose had been friends; close friends; _best_ friends. Almost as close as siblings. And that was the problem. Mickey was like a brother to Rose - the love she felt for him was simply platonic. She was with him through pity if she was being perfectly honest. It was obvious to anyone at how much Mickey worshiped the ground Rose walked on. She didn't know how to break it off with him gently. Any disturbance in his relationship with Rose would truly break his heart.

"Who's Max?" Rose asked after a short, seemingly pointless pause.

"One of the builders from work," Donna explained plainly. "_Fit as_."

Raising an eyebrow, Rose giggled lightly.

"I'm guess you like him, then?"

"Oh, yes. I _like_ him," Donna smirked. "And I'm sure you're gonna _like_ him too."

"I have Mickey!"

Rose had desperately tried to remind Donna of his fact many a time, but it never really seemed to sink in. Donna was forever trying to set up Rose - and herself - with the hunky builders at work. She was also forever failing at these attempts too.

"Sure..." Donna chuckled before trailing off. "But anyway..."

There was nothing left to say. Not really. One thought was niggling in the back of Donna's mind though she tried her best to let it go. _Yesterday. Yesterday in Rose's house. Tell her about yesterday_. It was there, clear in her mind, screaming at her to tell. But her voice was lost. She physically couldn't speak as though something, or, more importantly, _someone_ had snatched it away from her.

Next weekend, _everything_ would change for these two women. They didn't know it yet, they didn't know why or how. But it would. Eventually. They'd no longer be this plain darn normal. Time would only tell, though. It was just a matter of time . . .


End file.
